About Us

Vail Valley Academy of Dance

Vail Valley Academy of Dance was founded by Anne Powell in 1989. The school opened its doors with 100 students, two small studios, and three faculty members. Over the last 26 years the school has grown to more than 250 students and eight faculty members.

Annually, our advanced dancers audition for, and gain acceptance into, the summer programs of prestigious ballet schools worldwide. Instructors teaching these summer intensives have taken note of the training displayed by these dancers and because of that attention VVAD enjoys an outstanding reputation nationwide for training excellence.

Several students from the school have gone on to study at the year-round programs of ballet schools, colleges with outstanding dance curriculum, and the training programs of professional companies. These include Ballet Austin, Atlanta Ballet, Mercyhurst University, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Walnut Hill, Suny Purchase College in NYC, Point Park University, University of Florida, University of Utah, and the University of Oklahoma.

Many of our students audition for, and are accepted into, competitive summer dance programs throughout the country such as the Bolshoi Academy in Washington DC and Moscow, Ellison Ballet, The Harid Conservatory, Miami City Ballet, Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts, Vail Valley Dance Intensive, Joffrey Ballet, Burklyn Ballet Theater, Jillana School, Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, Interlochen School of the Arts, David Taylor Dance Theater, The Kirov, and Colorado Ballet.

The professional staff at VVAD takes great pride in all their students’ accomplishments whether in dance or other areas of study. Our school strives to teach children not only skills in dance, but also hopes to inspire self-discipline, independent thinking, exceptional time-management skills, creativity, and respect for self and others. Teachers in ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary dance continue to study the art of teaching. VVAD teachers attend teacher trainings regularly to enhance and continually improve their skills in the art form. Ballet teachers have recently (summer 2014) attended and gained certification from Arts Ballet Theatre of Florida summer workshop for ballet teachers in the Vagonova Method from Vladimir Issaev. Jazz teachers have been certified from the Boulder Teachers Workshop summer 2014.

The dance-school year at VVAD runs from September to May. The program at VVAD should be viewed as a full-year commitment culminating with the eagerly anticipated Spring Recital. The recital has grown in popularity among our community and even people who do not have children in the program, attend performances. There is also a four-week summer camp for students in June/July for students Division 4 -7. We offer summer classes for tippy toes, Division 2 and 3 too. In addition, VVAD is the home of the Vail Valley Dance Intensive (VVDI) directed by Roberto Munoz. The four week program is for Intermediate and Advanced students in Vail and across the country. Admission is by audition only and runs independently from VVAD.